Artistica Gallery celebrates 7 years with annual event Feb. 28

Downtown Dexter’s Artistica Gallery will be celebrating seven years of business Feb. 28 during their annual anniversary event.

Artistica Gallery is home to anywhere between 25 and 30 artists who sell their works inside the small store at 3203 Broad St. and offers a wide array of handmade and often locally-made wares.

The annual anniversary event will feature light refreshments, new products and an extra-special treat: The introduction of the gallery’s newest co-owner, Karen Schulte. Schulte specializes in mosaic and stained glass artwork.

Artistica is run by a group of co-owners who together run the day-to-day operations of the store. Co-owners often rotate out and Schulte is newest addition to the group of four.

Co-owners also help decide which artists are allowed to sell their work at the gallery.

“We like to find new artists and keep things vibrant for the community,” Co-owner Anne Karnow said. “We don’t want (customers) to get bored with what’s in the store.”

Take a look at what Anne Kornow, one of Artistica’s co-owners, has to say about the process of choosing the store’s artists:

Artistica’s seven years of success hasn’t been without it’s troubles. Kornow said as other stable businesses in the area have come and go, it has been challenging at times.

“We’re a little concerned about the fact that Huron Camera has gone out of business be they were a good draw for us,” she said. “We had some tough times when there was constructions going through. We were just landlocked.”

Still, Kornow is optimistic about the future of Artistica and downtown Dexter. She says local business owners are starting to band together and help promote each other more and more.

“When people discover us they really like the fact that they have someplace local to get things, like a gift or cards,” she said.

Kornow and another Artistica co-owner, Cathy Swan, are working with several other local businesses to extend the Dexter after Dark into a quarterly event. Dexter after Dark is a shopping event that usually occurs near the Holiday season during which businesses stay open late and offer special deals to encourage the community to shop locally and support their downtown. Kornow hopes the move the event from once a year to four times a year.

“Merchants are starting to work together,” she said. “We’re starting to get to know each other well in order to promote each other. And we do like to promote Dexter and downtown.”

The Artistica Gallery anniversary event will be held 5 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 28.